Siwelele coach Lehlohonolo Seema felt his team gave Orlando Pirates a torrid afternoon but there was nothing they could do about the wonder winner from Mbekezeli Mbokazi that gave the Buccaneers a last-gasp victory in Saturday’s Carling Knockout first-round tie.
“Congratulations to Mbokazi, I think it took the special goal to break us down,” said Seema after the one-goal loss at the Orlando Stadium with Mbokazi striking home from distance in the 87th minute.
But Seema felt his side had done well in the contest.
“I think technically we applied ourselves very well, although we started a little bit badly, conceding an early penalty because I think a lot of players were still trying to settle, and the nerves were still there. That's not how you start the game, especially when you're playing Pirates.”
Keabetswe Khonyane gave away the third-minute penalty but Evidence Makgopa struck the kick against the upright.
“After that, we knew that the longer the game goes on, we would be fine because we had our game plan. I must say to the players that they were spot on because Pirates changed their system with (Tshepang) Moremi playing inside. We had to adjust quickly, because with him playing inside, he plays a different dimension, but we managed to deal with that,” said Seema.
“We are not happy as well that we are out of the Cup. This means that we don't have an extra game that we can play, but it gives us another opportunity to go and prepare for the next week or two.
“You saw that there's a fight. We are really, really working hard and this team is taking shape. There's light in the tunnel, and this team is showing steady progress and is stepping in the right direction,” the Siwelele coach added.